H.S. FOOTBALL: Alfred propels Williams past Spellman

Thursday

Nov 23, 2017 at 2:44 PMNov 23, 2017 at 8:19 PM

Oronde Alfred, a senior running back, rushed for two touchdowns and 99 yards en route to a 20-13 Archbishop Williams victory over Cardinal Spellman in the 40th annual Gravy Bowl at Memorial Field on Thursday morning

John O'Callaghan The Enterprise JOCallaghan_ENT

Oronde Alfred has a lot to be thankful for.

Alfred, a senior running back, rushed for two touchdowns and 99 yards in Archbishop Williams’ 20-13 victory over Cardinal Spellman in the 40th annual Gravy Bowl at Memorial Field on Thursday morning.

“It was the best feeling ever, holding up that Gravy Bowl Trophy,” Alfred said. “There’s nothing more that I wanted to do than win this last one with these guys here that I’m with. I love them, we’re brothers ’til the end. That’s how we started, as brothers, and we finish as brothers together. That’s how we do it.”

Archbishop Williams head coach Bill Kinsherf said: “He ran hard, especially a couple carries in the second half and had that big first down to kind of seal the game. He’s tough, he’s pushing piles, he’s a tough, strong running back. He’s a good player.”

This marks the third straight victory for Archbishop Williams against Cardinal Spellman, and it leads the all-time series by a score of 27-13.

“After getting knocked out of the playoffs it’s kind of tough to get up for games, but when you have a rivalry like this, and it gets a little chippy at times,” Kinsherf said. “Overall, it’s a fun battle and both teams played really hard against each other.”

Down 10-7 at halftime, the host Bishops (6-5) came out with a purpose in the second half as quarterback Neil Sanders found Colton Casper on a 35-yard post route for a touchdown to give them the 14-10 lead and they never looked back.

“In the locker room, we just talked about who wants it more, that’s how it is every game,” Alfred said. “It’s not Xs and Os, it’s who wants it more, it’s who has the bigger heart. ... It’s a great day to be a Bishop.”

“It’s about time (Sanders) threw the post route because we’ve been asking him all year to throw it and finally he threw it in the last (game),” Kinsherf noted. “He said he could hear me yelling ‘Throw the ball at the last post route’ so we knew (Spellman was) playing man-to-man and the middle of the field was open. We worked on it all week and we finally connected on it.”

Hoping to pin Archbishop Williams deeps in its own territory on fourth down with a punt, a snap sailed over Mikey Spencer’s head and rolled all the way to Spellman’s own 40-yard line.

The mistake proved costly, as Williams took advantage of the opportunity when Oronde scampered in for his second score of the game from 2 yards out, putting the lead at 20-10 (the extra point was blocked).

Spellman (6-5) responded by marching down the field and making it a one-possession game when Mark Anastasia hit a 25-yard field goal to make it 20-13. But Archbishop Williams recovered the onside kick attempt, which allowed the hosts to run out remainder of the contest.

“You can’t expect to win if you play undisciplined and turn the ball over,” Cardinal Spellman head coach Ron St. George said. “We don’t play well when trying to come from behind.”

Alfred’s first touchdown came from a 12-yard rush in the first quarter, which was set up by a Nick Tardanico interception on the opening drive of the game.

Coincidentally, Spellman’s lone touchdown also was set up by a turnover, as Colin Tracy recovered a fumble on Williams’ own 25-yard-line, which led to Justin Olowu getting the score from the goal line to tie it, 7-7.

Spellman had the ball right before the break, and took the lead when Anastasia nailed a 30-yard field goal to go up 10-7 as time expired. The opportunity was granted in large part due to a facemask and dead ball personal foul penalties, which resulted in Spellman getting a 30-yard gain.

At the conclusion of the game, each team presented its respective season’s most valuable player awards, with linebacker-offensive lineman Tom Veasy receiving the award from the Bishops while Olowu was honored by the Cardinals.

John O’Callaghan may be reached at jocallaghan@enterprisenews.com.

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